Warriors surge back in time to fight off Sixers and break losing streak

Share this:

The Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) drives against the Philadelphia 76ers’ Nik Stauskas (11), Gerald Henderson (12) and Richaun Holmes (22) in the first half of their NBA game at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, March 14, 2017. (Dan Honda/Bay Area News Group)

OAKLAND — The stars rested in San Antonio on Saturday, the entire team rested Sunday, then they practiced Monday for the first time in a week. The “recharge,” as the Warriors have been calling it, was supposed to finally show itself Tuesday when the lowly Sixers visited town.

But for three quarters, 22-43 Philadelphia outplayed the malfunctioning megateam, down a star and stripped of its powers. They entered the fourth trailing by 12. But the low-point of this extended slump finally produced enough desperation to spring an encouraging moment.

Urged by a pleading Oracle crowd, the Warriors surged back for a 106-104 win on the back of a 28-14 fourth quarter.

Two familiar factors changed the game: the return of Steph Curry’s lethal 3-point shot and the defensive domination from Draymond Green down the stretch.

Curry staggered through the first few quarters, continuing a shooting slump that has coincided with this team’s malaise. He missed five of his first six 3s, pushing him to 19-of-81 from deep the past seven-and-a-half games. Many of the bricks were wide open looks, ending with a clang and a frustrated Curry shoulder shrug.

“It’s better to miss them now than in May and June,” Klay Thompson said.

Sitting wide open in the right corner in the final seconds of the third quarter, Curry missed a momentum-changer, which would’ve shed the Warriors lead down to single-digits heading to the fourth. The misfire summed up the night to that point — a perfect situation gone awry. But it wasn’t an indicator of what lied ahead.

Coming out of the between-quarter timeout, a desperate Oracle crowd roared to life, trying to will its team to life and jolt its frustrated superstar. Joe Lacob, the team’s majority owner, was so amped up at one point early in the fourth quarter, he got in a defensive stance as the team rotated around the perimeter trying to slow the Sixers.

“Joe was over there trying to help will guys through it,” Green said. “And we needed it all. It’s been a tough week-and-a-half for us.”

Green started the fourth quarter with a layup, two of his 20 points. Then they got a stop. Then Curry stepped into and nailed a wing 3. The place was as electric as it had been all season. The Sixers called timeout.

But the momentum didn’t slow. Two Curry free throws were followed by a David West strip of a Dario Saric drive. A Curry mid-range jumper followed. A West 20-footer, a Green 3 and a Shaun Livingston mid-range jumper (finally, after some extended struggles) capped a 15-2 burst to give them a lead with 7:33 left.

The rest of the quarter was about fighting off a pesky Sixers team.

To do that, the Warriors used the finally unlocked Curry, who nailed a 27-footer on the wing with 5:50 left and a smooth corner 3 off an Andre Iguodala shovel feed with 3:42 left to provide enough offensive punch. Curry made four of his final seven 3s.

“He doesn’t need to worry,” Thompson said. “He’s set records his whole career, done stuff no other player has done in the history of this game. That’s what we all remind him of, that’s what he reminds himself. That’s what he got hot tonight. He’ll have a huge breakout game soon.”

But the Warriors, surprisingly unfocused on defense much of the night despite the recent rest, needed to turn it around on the other end, too. Green, even more vocal than usual on this night, provided the energy, giving pep talks in the huddle and sternly directed his teammates into the proper spots while rotating around everywhere to cover up any mistakes.

Green had an incredible help-side block on a Jahlil Okafor drive with 8:53 left, which led to two Curry free throws. He spiked a T.J. McConnell layup out of bounds later in the quarter.

Then he may have made the smartest play of the night with just a few seconds left.

The Sixers, down 3, turned the ball over with eight seconds left. A streaking Matt Barnes opted against dribbling out the clock and absorbing a foul. He instead went in for a punctuation dunk that clanked off the back rim.

“I should’ve got the steal and pulled it out,” Barnes said. “But I think I just had a flashback and it didn’t work.”

The Sixers rebounded and pushed it upcourt, needing a 3 to tie the game. But before they could even get a shot off, Green sprinted over and fouled Saric. It meant the Sixers would have to shoot two free throws, purposely missing the second and hoping for a desperation rebound and tip-back — far more unlikely than a made 3.

“I knew that if I fouled him right away, the worst thing that could happen is they go down one,” Green said. “Then I give it to Steph or Klay, they go knock two free throws down and we got a great chance of going home with the win.”

OAKLAND – For once, not everything about Kevin Durant pertains to his pending free agency.Instead, Durant has talked in uncertain terms about when he return from a right calf injury that has sidelined him for the past five playoff games. Durant has talked in more certain terms about the ridiculous notion that the Warriors are better without him.Most Warriors fans...